After defeat to Newcastle United last time out it’s unlikely confidence will have been too high in the Tottenham camp.
Indeed, this has been a tricky opening to the new campaign for Spurs who lost at St James’ Park almost a fortnight ago and have already drawn with newly-promoted Leicester.
They did, at least, put Everton to the sword. Silver linings and all that, eh?
So, if you had supporters name one team they didn’t want to face early doors it was probably title contenders Arsenal. The Gunners are unbeaten but come into this weekend’s contest without a number of key players.
Perhaps Ange Postecoglou‘s team could be in the running for a win, after all?
Team news ahead of Spurs vs Arsenal
Declan Rice has been ruled out of the game through that controversial sending-off against Brighton last time out. From an Arsenal perspective, the less said about that the better.
Either way, with Rice out and Mikel Merino also nursing a shoulder injury that he sustained in his first training session, it leaves a hole in Mikel Arteta‘s midfield.
That has been worsened by the news that Martin Odegaard could now miss the next three to four weeks of action after picking up a nasty-looking ankle injury in Norway’s win over Austria on Monday evening. The Arsenal skipper twisted his ankle and had to be helped form the field.
That said, Postecoglou is also waiting with bated breath over the fitness of a few of his key men.
Micky van de Ven should be back after missing the defeat to Newcastle but the fitness of Dominic Solanke is still uncertain after he sat out the last two matches.
The latest news is that Yves Bissouma could also be absent for the derby after he was substituted in Mali’s 1-0 win over Eswatini in midweek. He was forced to limp from the field following a heavy challenge.
Why Odegaard’s injury is great news for Spurs
If you were a Tottenham player and you could pick three players to be out injured for a north London clash you would probably pick Bukayo Saka, Rice and Odegaard.
Well, they’ll only be coming up against one of them in what is a colossal boost to their chances of claiming victory on Sunday afternoon.
Why? Well, both players are among the nominees for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award. That says it all, doesn’t it?
To go more in-depth, Odegaard is the beating heart of this Arsenal team. His combination play with Saka down the right-hand side is one of the biggest reasons for their success over the last couple of years.
Last season, only two players in the whole top flight registered more assists than Odegaard (10). That’s Cole Palmer (11) and Ollie Watkins (13). Meanwhile, only four players in the Premier League – Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes and Heung-min Son – created more chances over the course of 2023/24.
Spurs vs Arsenal (last 6 meetings) | |
|---|---|
Date | Result |
28th April 2024 | 3-2 Spurs defeat |
24th Sept 2023 | 2-2 draw |
15th Jan 2023 | 2-0 Spurs defeat |
1st Oct 2022 | 3-1 Spurs defeat |
12th May 2022 | 3-0 Spurs win |
26th Sept 2021 | 3-1 Spurs defeat |
So, what does this mean for Spurs? It’s good news as far as the club’s leaky defence are concerned. Arsenal’s frontline are likely to be provided with fewer opportunities to score from.
That’s music to the ears of the robust Cristian Romero, a man who is usually all over a derby day game like this one.
Having made two errors against the Toon, charging away from his position to press Newcastle’s more creative players, it lessens the likelihood of that eventuality occurring again.
Without Odegaard, it’s anyone’s guess at to what solution Arteta will identify. He could go with 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, a contest Romero would no doubt relish against a lightweight player.
It could also mean that Kai Havertz is forced to operate in a deeper position, thus occupying the Spurs defence – chiefly Romero – on a far less regular basis than he initially would have.
Truth be told, Tottenham have been gifted an ideal route to claiming all three points here. They must respond well to Arsenal’s messy midfield situation.
